Wales winger North ‘very excited’ about switch to Northampton Saints

Tom Vickers

George North says he is ‘very excited’ about his summer move to Saints and stressed his desire to help the club claim some silverware.

North has joined Northampton on a three-year deal, cutting short his stay at Scarlets, where he still had another year remaining on his contract.

The Wales star, who turns 21 on Saturday, will add huge firepower to Saints backline, which will also be bolstered by the arrival of Samoan scrum-half Kahn Fotuali’i.

And, speaking for the first time since his move to Franklin’s Gardens was confirmed on Tuesday, North expressed his eagerness to get stuck in at Saints.

“I’m delighted to have made the decision and I’m very excited about the move to a new club,” the winger told the Telegraph. “Now I can just focus on the rugby.

“It’s a big move. Northampton have got a good squad, they’ve recruited really well this year and it’s a club which competes regularly in the Premiership and the Heineken Cup and hopefully over the next few seasons, I can help them push on and win some silverware.

“Moving to Northampton is only going to push me as a player, challenge me and push my game forward.”

The build-up to North’s move to Saints was far from smooth, as news that he was considering a move to England sparked controversy in Wales.

The WRU and Scarlets battled it out in the media as the nation faced the prospect of seeing one of its prized assets moved across the border.

But North was eager to avoid talking about the club versus country war of words and instead opted to focus on the future.

“The key is that it’s all sorted now,” said the King’s Lynn-born player, who has scored 12 tries in 31 Test appearances for Wales.

“There are a number of reasons why I’ve moved but I’m delighted that it’s sorted and there’s going to be an exciting future at Northampton and a potentially big ending for me at Scarlets.”